rihanna on good morning america

rihanna on good morning america
In Rihanna's much-anticipated interview with Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America this morning, we saw a poised, beautiful girl talking about a painful subject.

She discussed how then-boyfriend Chris Brown beat her down in February, how she managed to break free from him and how she feels about it now: "Eff love."

Rihanna declares she's "strong" but still embarrassed and ashamed.

"I fell in love with that person. That's embarrassing," she says of Chris Brown. "That's embarrassing that that's the type of person that I feel in love with."

Even worse, she says, was how she went back to him unconditionally.

Sawyer noted that, on average, a woman will take a beating seven times before leaving. The 21-year-old star's chilling response: "Eight or nine, actually."

"I don't want that to happen ... It's completely normal to go back. You start lying to yourself," Rihanna admits. "The minute the physical wounds go away, you want this thing to go away. This is a memory you don't want to have ever again."

Rihanna Breaks Silence

Rihanna says her teenage fans finally helped her ditch Chris Brown.

"When I realized that my selfish decision for love could result into some young girl getting killed, I could not be easy with that part," she explains.

"Even if Chris never hit me again, who's to say their boyfriend won't?"

"Who's to say that they won't kill these girls? These are young girls. I just didn't realize how much of an impact I had on these girls' lives until that happened."

"It was a big wakeup call for me," she adds. "I'll say that to any young girl who's going through domestic violence. Come out of the situation and look at it third person for what it really is and make your decision. Because love is blind."

Tomorrow morning's second segment will detail what happened in the car that fateful February night. The full interview will air on 20/20 on Friday evening.

Rihanna is finally breaking her silence to promote her new album, Rated R. Interestingly, Brown also has a new album out and is giving similar interviews.

Ironically, it is Chris who seems less apologetic than Rihanna to his fans, and still seems bitter at "haters," even though he has apologized for what he did.

"I'm confused right now as far as the public perception [of me]," he told MTV, adding that there are some people out there who "basically want me in jail."

Follow the jump for Rihanna's interview on Good Morning America ...